What kind of home for an OTR driver?

Discussion in 'Experienced Truckers' Advice' started by davenjeip, Feb 27, 2011.

  1. davenjeip

    davenjeip Medium Load Member

    459
    257
    Dec 20, 2009
    Port Charlotte, Fl
    0
    My wife and I are in the process of making some major changes in our life, and one of those changes involves moving and buying a new house in the next couple of years. It will also include parking the truck and living overseas for a month or so every year, once we get in a position where we can afford to do so.

    I'll be OTR while living in the new house, first as a company driver planning to take the truck home with me, then eventually as an O/O. Wife will be on the road with me most of the time, but will also stay home alone some of that time.

    We have narrowed down what we want in a home to two choices and are currently having trouble deciding which of the two we want. The truck and OTR lifestyle are factors in the decision, although it seems to not clearly lean towards one choice or the other.

    I am deciding between...

    Low maintenance home on a small piece of waterfront property. After getting home, I'd be able to knock out what I need to do rather quickly (lot would be small enough I could easily afford to pay someone to cut my grass) and make the most of the free time I have by getting to whatever I want to do fast. Also, less worries about things while I am on the road, since there is less to go wrong and the neighbors could easily see the house to keep an eye on things. Downside is that, while I know I could get away with parking the truck at home in the beginning, it may become an issue in the future and there would be no option of every coming home with a trailer. Time and money spent dealing with parking/storage along with the possibility that after becoming an O/O I couldn't bring the truck home to work on it. May also eliminate any possibility of a quick stop at home, should I ever be passing close to home.

    Home on about five acres of land, which would obviously be higher maintenance. All issues with the truck and trailer would be gone with this option, which would give me a little more time at home. Would also save me the costs of paying to park the truck/trailer somewhere (especially if it is parked for a month) and allow me to do the smaller truck repairs myself, instead of paying someone to do it. However, once I got home there would be a lot more work to do to maintain my home, which would quickly eat into my hometime. In addition, a parcel of land that large could require me to be home more often, since I'd have to be home to take care of more things myself and check on things, since I would not have the neighbors able to watch the property and call me if there was a problem.

    If you had a choice as an OTR driver and an O/O, which would you go for to better suit the lifestyle?
     
  2. Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.

  3. Diogenes

    Diogenes Light Load Member

    87
    321
    May 3, 2010
    0
    With no put-down intended, I'd choose option C.

    I'd take the overseas trip first, focus on the house purchase next and forget going O/O for a long time -- like until this economy stabilizes.

    This is the worst possible time to go O/O. Oil is going through the roof because of uncertainty in the Middle East and that won't shake out/shape up for at least several years. Fuel prices will track oil prices.

    The poor economy means that there are literally millions of workers who are either unemployed or underemployed in really crappy jobs. Many of them will end up in trucking and that means lower pay and cheaper freight. That is the last thing an O/O needs.

    If you can swing either house now, it's probably not a bad time to buy but the prices could drop even more in the next year or two. I'd keep my eyes on Realtytrac and mortgage rates and act accordingly.

    Think it over and I wish you BOL. :biggrin_25525:
     
  4. Rerun8963

    Rerun8963 Road Train Member

    3,917
    2,012
    Mar 30, 2006
    ova-hereee
    0
    if you want to be able to take the truck home, then buy land far away from everyone....beach or lake areas may have restrictions on big rigs, as when people are at those areas, the last thing they want to hear or smell is a truck and its exhaust...

    move out to the boonies and be done with it, and make sure you do not have to travel through town to get to your property as well...easy off highway, easy on.....

    and just build your house as maintenance free as possible.....vinyl siding, astro-turf lawn, fake trees, where you do not have to rake leaves, or get evergreens, and have the contractor put a heating system in the driveway to melt the snow/ice in the winter..

    should all this be done, maybe about $5,000,000,000 dollars, and as a trucker, that's in your back pocket right now, right..??
     
    formertaxidriver and GldnEagle Thank this.
  5. Kittyfoot

    Kittyfoot Crusty Ancient

    2,092
    3,053
    Sep 21, 2009
    Sorrento, Louisiana
    0
    Oh give me a home
    Tween Buffalo an Nome.
    Twixt N'Awlins an ol Hay why Ayy.

    Where seldom is heard
    The gubbermint t--ds
    An everone pays they own way.

    Home, home of my dreams
    I think of you every day
    But the dream is absurd
    So I'm told by a bird
    Cause truckin's so screwed up today.
     
    GldnEagle Thanks this.
  6. special-k

    special-k Road Train Member

    1,512
    3,227
    Dec 27, 2008
    Southern Ontario Canada
    0
    I do regional work so I'm a little different than you. I'm home every weekend and usually once or twice a week. We have 1/2 acre in a small 500 person village and I park my truck at home without a problem. I'm lucky that I don't have any restricted weight roads around me. We don't have a big house, it's around 1100 square feet and have a 24x48 shop for the truck. Ideally it would be nice to have an acre but than it gets to be a lot of grass to cut and what not. I agree with the low maintenance house. Our's is brick and we have electric heat so I don't have to cut wood or worry about oil tanks. Gas would be better. It's so nice to have the truck right at the house. Once you do you'll never go back to parking anywhere else. I don't have issues with my neighbours but I go out of my way to be extra courteous and help them out when possible. You'll have to check with your co about bringing the truck home. Some places are fine with it and some others might have rules about secure parking. Good luck.
     
  7. davenjeip

    davenjeip Medium Load Member

    459
    257
    Dec 20, 2009
    Port Charlotte, Fl
    0
    Overseas trip would come every year, starting a few years from now. We own a house in Bangkok, that we are paying off when our taxes come back in a few weeks. The couple years we are working extra hard now, will allow us to be in a financial position in the near future to make it happen.

    We'd be purchasing the new house in the next few months. Buying while the economy is bad, in an area where the housing prices got hit worse than most. Trying to buy really cheap, then sell the house we currently live in once the market recovers, so that we walk away with enough equity to pay off whatever we owe on the new place. Hopefull that the numbers will work out in the next couple of years, but we are patient enough to wait it out until it works and the longer it takes means more payments made, and the less money that we need to make it happen.

    Owning my own truck wouldn't come right away, when we make the move. I'd only do it once I had enough cash to buy a truck outright and be in a position to pick and choose my own loads. We'd do it for the extra freedom it would offer, and doing it before we were in a financial position to make that possible would offer very little benefit over being a company driver. We're willing to be patient with this as well, and see no reason to do anything until we can get exactly what we want from it.
     
  8. Diogenes

    Diogenes Light Load Member

    87
    321
    May 3, 2010
    0
    10-4, sounds like a good plan, you're really thinking through your options and you're a bright person.

    Now on Bangkok, very cool place but you mentioned "we"... I tip my hat to you because most guys would probably rather see Bangkok alone, if you get my drift... I'm kind of a pollyanna so I enjoy hearing about couples that really get along. :biggrin_25525:
     
  • Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.